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National

Posted: June 14, 2017

Watch: Teen dances in hospital bed 6 days after heart transplant

Charawn Hunter

In this image from a video shot by his aunt, 15-year-old Amari Hall dances in his hospital bed just six days after undergoing a heart transplant. Amari, who was born with a congenital heart defect, got a new heart in March.

By
Crystal Bonvillian, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

BALTIMORE
—

When Amari Hall went through his fifth heart surgery in 15 years in March, his family prayed that it would finally be his last.

The Maryland teenager, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, underwent a transplant to replace his own failing heart. In the months since the surgery, he has become a viral sensation, thanks to video his aunt, Charawn Hunter, shot of him dancing in celebration of his new chance at life.

The video shows members of Amari’s medical team telling him goodbye. There were plenty of hugs, tears, laughter -- and dancing.

“Thank you, everybody. Y’all have been very nice to me. I love you, all of y’all,” Amari said. “I’m gonna miss all of y’all.”

“We love you, too,” a woman said off-camera.

‘All his life, he has been a fighter’

Amari first showed signs of his congenital heart defect two days after his birth. A profile of Amari by Save the Heartbeat, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those born with heart defects, indicated that a doctor noticed his unusual breathing as he was being discharged.

Doctors at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia found that the newborn had hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a condition in which the left side of a person’s heart is underdeveloped.

According to Save the Heartbeat, a healthy heart works like this: The right side of the heart pumps oxygen-depleted blood from the heart to the lungs, which fill it with oxygen. The left side of the heart then pumps the oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body, which uses that oxygen to survive.

A newborn’s heart has two small openings that allow blood to move between the two sides of the heart during gestation, but those holes close within days of birth.

In a baby with HLHS, blood can bypass the underdeveloped left side of the heart through those openings. When they close, the heart can no longer properly send oxygenated blood to the rest of the body, and the child begins showing symptoms of the defect, which include strained breathing, trouble feeding and an ashy or dusky appearance.

Save the Heartbeat

Amari Hall, 15, is pictured recovering from his March 2017 heart transplant at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital. Amari was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital heart defect that occurs when the left side of a person's heart is underdeveloped. (Save the Heartbeat)

Amari had the first of his heart surgeries to save his life at 5 days old, Save the Heartbeat’s profile said. He had multiple additional surgeries before his second birthday.